May 18, 2020.We have been watching gold, expecting a decline before heading higher. BUT gold is now breaking higher and we are buying a very small ‘starter’ position to start. If it continues upward, we will be adding more. BUY GDX At higher risk, you can look at NUGT which moves two times FASTER THAN that of gold.

General consensus out there says gold is moving much higher. Is gold telling us there is big risk in SPY/DOW??

NOW IN OUR 8TH YEAR. This blog is intended for INCOME investors, NOT growth. Go to the Core Portfolio for current holdings. Don’t forget to hit the like button. This blog is designed for retired investors seeking income.

Kessler, who wrote about the Secret Service in a book titled The First Family Detail, discovered that while former First Lady Hillary Clinton is the most reviled among Secret Service agents, former Vice President Joe Biden comes in a close second.

One of the reasons he was so disliked was his creepy habit of stripping down naked in front of female Secret Service agents to go for a swim.

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May 15, 2020. We are placing a BUY Limit order on BTZBlackRock Credit Allocation Income Trust. Pays 7.35%. We are hoping the price comes DOWN to our Limit Order price of: $12.55 If BTZ does not decline to our buy price, we will raise our buy price.

Corporate bonds are getting a boost

Through the special vehicles with credit guarantees from the Treasury, the Federal Reserve is making massive buys of US corporate and municipal bonds. It’s doing this to both stabilize the bond and credit markets now, as well as working to drive down yields and credit costs for corporations, municipalities and other debt issuers.

This means both segments and others have a major buyer that underpins prices. Just like after 2007-2008, the Fed kept the bond portfolio and reinvested maturities and interest for most of the following decade. And recently, the new and renewed buying is bulging the Fed’s portfolio to nearly $7 trillion and climbing.

Friday News

Sorrento Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRNE) gallops 56% premarket on robust volume in reaction to reports that it has discovered an antibody, dubbed STI-1499, that, it says, can provide 100% inhibition of COVID-19 and flush out the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the body within four days.

“We want to emphasize there is a cure,” says CEO Henry Ji. “If we have the neutralizing antibody in your body, you don’t need the social distancing. You can open up a society without fear.”

The antibody, one of “hundreds” it screened, blocks the coronavirus’ spike proteins from attaching to ACE2, a receptor on the surface of healthy cells that serves as a “doorknob” to open the cell to infection.

Ji says STI-1499 can be used as preventative therapy since there are no unwanted side effects, adding that it may be more effective than a vaccine.

The company is partnering with NY-based Mount Sinai to develop an antibody cocktail, Covi-Shield, comprised of three different antibodies, including STI-1499, for prophylactic use. It says it can produce up to 200K doses per month and is looking to produce “tens of millions” to meet demand.

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On May 11, (and May 6) we posted an expectation of a decline of 5-10% for SPY. And we are now in that pull back.

We now anticipate SPY heading back up after this minor decline, BUT THEN A significant decline June/July.(if you are trading heavy in stocks, be sure and have sell stops in place)THAT would be a good time to buy inverse funds that go up when the market declines.

We are in a bear market. Buying of bonds continues. Holding large cash positions and individual corporate bonds.

We are placing a very small starter BUY LIMIT order for IEF, the 7-10 year IShare Treasury bond etf, at $122.09.

NOW IN OUR 8TH YEAR. Go to the Core Portfolio for current holdings. Don’t forget to hit the like button. This blog is designed for retired investors seeking income.

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May 13, 2020. The Core Portfolio “cash” is sitting in almost zero% paying accounts. So we are buying several bond positions today, with approx. 1% of the portfolio in each. Linked below is an article talking about short duration funds.

Last week it appeared SPY 3000 was a possibility. Hard to believe with the economy carnage but the technicals are STILL positive.

BlackRock Multi-Sector Income Trust’s (BIT) (the ‘Trust’) primary investment objective is to seek high current income, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Trust seeks to achieve its investment objectives by investing, under normal market conditions, at least 80% of its assets in loan and debt instruments and other investments with similar economic characteristics. The Trust may invest directly in such securities or synthetically through the use of derivatives.

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“How much longer can the government throw dollars at a problem that has no outcome other than to make people think they do not need to go back to work? How soon will emergency assistance turn into another form of enabling people to stay home instead of going to work, or out to eat, or traveling, or… anything and everything that defines a robust economy?” (Turner Capital Investments)

May 11, 2020. SPY is approaching 3000 and if history is any indication, this “1,000” level would normally act as a “magnet” drawing SPY higher. The momentum indicators are also pointing up.BUT this morning the DOW is pointing down.

Always remember, the stock market is NOT the economy. JUST LOOK AT THE LAST MONTH AND A HALF FOR PROOF….with the terrible economic news the markets have climbed higher.

Also, don’t fight the FED. They are pouring trillions and trillions into this economy.

The Core Portfolio is now at 56% cash.

Last week we were looking at BIT and JPS. But with the down opening today, we will wait and watch for possible lower prices.We would NOT be surprized to see a downtrend in the markets for the next week or two-between 5-10%.

“If the mid-March low in gold futures at $1450.90 equates to the 2008 low, and gold follows a similar path, the price could be on its way to over $3000 per ounce over the coming months and years. The far higher level of stimulus in 2020 compared to a dozen years ago could mean that even higher price levels are in the cards for the yellow metal.“

NOW IN OUR 8TH YEAR. Go to the Core Portfolio for current holdings. Don’t forget to hit the like button. This blog is designed for retired investors seeking income.

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May 8, 2020. We have owned Medical Properties Trust in the past. Buying a small starter position today. Pays 6.3%BUY MPW

Medical Properties Trust, Inc. is a self-advised real estate investment trust formed in 2003 to acquire and develop net-leased hospital facilities. From its inception in Birmingham, Alabama, the Company has grown to become one of the world’s largest owners of hospitals with 389 facilities and more than 41,000 licensed beds in eight countries and across three continents. MPT’s financing model facilitates acquisitions and recapitalizations and allows operators of hospitals to unlock the value of their real estate assets to fund facility improvements, technology upgrades and other investments in operations.

NOTE: We are CAUTIOUSLY adding holdings in the Core Portfolio. You should always have trailing stops in place which will sell your positions in case of another severe decline.

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Stunning: all those cruise ships floating around in the ocean.Lot of amazing pix in the link.

As of May 5, there were over 57,000 crew members still aboard 74 cruise ships in and around US ports and the Bahamas and the Caribbean, according to the US Coast Guard. Many more hundreds were stuck on vessels elsewhere across the world’s oceans.